House Republicans Hold Firm

Congratulations to the House Republicans: all 177 voted against the Democrats’ pork-fest bill. Eleven Democrats joined the Republicans in rejecting Nancy Pelosi’s fiscal insanity, which, the Congressional Budget Office confirmed yesterday, would actually cost $1.1 trillion.

The Republicans put together their own stimulus package; they say that, using Christina Romer’s methodology–she will be the Chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers–their program will create 6.2 million jobs.

Whether that’s right or not, the Republicans’ plan, unlike the Democrats’, was actually geared to job creation. Here are a few highlights. The Republican proposal would:

* Reduce the lowest individual tax rates from 15 percent to 10 percent and from 10 percent to five percent.
* Allow small businesses a tax deduction up to 20 percent of income.
* Finance a $7,500 credit for home-buyers who put down at least 5 percent.
* Expand Net Operating Loss carryback rules to give companies that have been profitable in the past but are now losing money prompt infusions of cash.
* Provide an above-the-line tax deduction for private health insurance to equalize tax treatment between those who have employer-sponsored health plans and those who don’t.

For the Republicans, this vote is an important first step toward reclaiming the mantle of small(er) government and fiscal responsibility.